<iframe width="658" height="371" scrolling="no" src="http://www.sports790.com/player/embed.html?autoStart=false&useFullScreen=true&mid=23166385&osu=null&startButtonColor=0xffffff" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" ></iframe>
~36:21 <iframe width="658" height="371" scrolling="no" src="http://www.sports790.com/player/embed.html?autoStart=false&useFullScreen=true&mid=23194120&osu=null&startButtonColor=0xffffff" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" ></iframe> (Klay Thompson) definitely better than we thought and probably most teams thought. He's really stepped up and has become one of the better wings in the league. (Best shooting backcourt in the NBA?) Steph Curry is the best shooter I've seen. ... I got Curry and Nash as the best shooters I've seen. They made so many hard ones. Klay Thompson is amazing but there are more guys like him in NBA history than there are Curry. ... (Message with the exit interviews & how you felt about the season) Message was feel good about what you accomplished. It was an amazing year, relative to how young they were. Impressive thing is how many guys, we were trying to give them a break, many said they didn't want a break. We got a good group. (Delfino) A little good news in surgery - the injury issue was more minor than thought. I still think recovery time is still measured in months, not weeks. We're hopeful on Carlos and that will heal up well. (Changes in the CBA--S&T, money offered, % raises as current team vs new team. How do those dynamics come into play or do they make a difference?) In the new CBA, the home court advantage vs. the away team signing, it's less of an advantage now which is helpful but still a big advantage for the team that has bird rights. You can give them an extra year, bigger raises(almost double), and that adds up to real money. The year by year money in first 4 years is similar. The last year adds up to an extra 30 million over the period of the contract. (A couple years ago, you went after Bosh--the full court press. Do you anticipate having one guy you'll look at or more wide open?) We have a very small list. It's not one but a small list of guys we're really focused on. After that, it's a wide list, similar to last year where we ended up with Delfino, where it's not about the player but the player compared to his contract. When you're in that type of situation, it usually takes a little longer to sign them. You're not signing them in July, you're probably signing end of July or closer to training camp. We'll have a lot of attractive things to offer out there. Free Agency will hopefully be a good tool for us this year. (Would you like to see the same style of play next year? Will FA be fit for this style of play or BPA?) For the top guys we're looking at, it's BPA. For the wider pool, it's definitely fit, like Carlos how we thought was a good fit. On offense, we do like the style of play. On defense, we're looking to expand the defense out to the 3 point line. We kept the D simple because of our youth. ... (On the trade market, is there anyone on your roster besides Harden untouchable?) James is definitely untouchable. Beyond that, no. We're a team that stays opportunistic. That said, we're not looking to trade anyone. We're gonna have continuity and bring back the vast majority of the team. (Do you feel like the vast majority of your players raised their value considerably?) In general, having a good season is a good thing for your roster. I'm looking forward to having more or less the same group back and continuity. (Any overseas guys playing summer league or coming over to join the team next season?) Aldemir and Llull, we do have interest in bringing them over. Aldemir has a better chance than Llull. I don't see Aldemir playing summer ball because of how FA lays out. We won't be able to sign him before he can play summer ball. ... We're gonna play in Orlando. We wanted both (Orlando & Vegas) but the league made that impossible. ... Our roster probably gets themselves in more trouble in Vegas. (Who do you like in the West?) East, Heat & Pacers will win. I like those 2 teams to win. West, I don't know. If OKC was full strength, then they're the obvious pick. Both of those series are pick 'ems.
Morey doesn't bs. Pretty simple, we go after guys on the short list (CP3/Howard are the only FAs on it this summer I imagine). If not, we go after one year guaranteed guys that can fill a need and fit our style and sit patiently developing our core until trade deadline or next summer.
Morey has BS'd at least twice in the past year. Once, before the harden trade,.telling us were still a playoff caliber team, even though he told Les to brace humself for a long year. Second, telling us We would stay pat at the trade deadline, and well you saw what happened I feel like he blows smoke A LOT, but that could be just me
Same. The only thing consistent about Morey is that he DOES NOT sit on his hands. That's not to say that he doesn't pass up a lot of deals, but he is more active than any other GM in sports. I've learned to ignore when he says things like "we like our players" or "this roster can grow" etc. Is it true? Yes, but that's just him saying the right things to the newspapers. In the background, he probably offered every player on our roster save Harden. I imagine Parsons and Asik, while not untradeable, probably carry pretty high premiums right now. I don't think either will be moved unless we get someone like Love in return.
CP3 and Howard might be the short list, but there are a number of guys that he'll take if the price is right. I don't think he'd pass up Josh Smith for $8 million, for example.
WTF are you talking about. Morey is a pretty straight shooter. If you ask him a question and he can't answer it. He tells you he can't talk about that. He doesn't show all his cards but that's different than BS.
Josh Smith turned down a 15 mil extension earlier this year. You might as well say Lebron for 8 mil. Neither will happen. I think Josh is very much on the table and for a lot more than 8 mil. Morey talked about playing small ball a lot more in another interview. The key to small ball is having a good center and having players that can push it and shoot 3's at all the other spots. If he thinks Josh Smith can be a good catch and shoot player than Smith becomes a real option. He does everything else well. Rebound run, finish.. by the way someone else reported Josh Smith shot 38% from right corner. That's exactly where they were trying to get Dmo to spot up at most the time. If Morey thinks Smith can improve his 3 point shooting if given a specific role than Smith allows us to play small ball without going small. IMO Smith is still on the table and probably part of his small list.
OK, Lebron for $8 million. I wasn't trying to put a fine point on it. I'm mostly pointing out that Morey is a value shopper, and Les is, too.
Morey does not talk BS; he does talk strategically. He also is ultra-flexible and always prepared, so even now Rockets have considered every scenario that's possible out there.
